Meade - Esprits de l'air... (Massenet: Esclarmonde • Gala Tucker 2014)

[@luispuig6949]

Spectacular duet. I'm amazed at this generation's talent. They bring an incredible new interpretation to the art of singing.

[@wotan10950]

I agree. Way too many opera “aficionados” simply can’t get past the recordings of their favorite singers (doubtful that they ever saw them onstage), and find fault with young singers of this generation, many of who are spectacular.

[@keroj7096]

Astonishing!!! 🎆🎇 great skills!!! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@thierryniord6661]

What a perfection ! These two beautiful ladies are fabulous ! Singing this extremely difficult duet in French is almost impossible. Our two singers are outstanding !

[@jmj4879]

Très beau!

[@gylchrissprauve3760]

Beautiful rendition! So glad for a modern performance of this piece. The orchestra provided the perfect turbulent orchestration to set the tone, and Ms Meade and Ms Cano acquitted themselves well. I am impressed by the fact that Angela is aware of these monumental rare pieces that defined the legacies of singers of yesteryear, like Dame Joan Sutherland. Thanks so much, Angela! Dramatic coloratura you indeed are. Keep on bringing it!

[@jonathanplatnick118]

I saw this at the Met back in the day with Sutherland. So somewhere a production exists ...

[@reidcondit1099]

Did you finish your sentence?. . . The production with Sutherland originated at SFO and traveled to the Met after a season or two. Didn't the Met suffer from some scenery fires? Maybe the sets burned up. It was a beautiful show -- one of the best in my 60-year history with SFO where I debuted as a soldier in 1957 in LA with Lyontine Price as Aida. So memorable!

[@jjh2456]

This is Massenet’s favorite opera that he ever composed. It is rarely performed because the role of Esclarmonde requires a true dramatic soprano with crazy agility. The orchestration is Wagnerian sized so the soprano has to have a huge voice to carry over it. It also features the highest note ever written for an opera. Yes many people here mention Sutherland. She was that soprano and it was signature role for her. However, that soprano does not exist right now. As for Meade here, she does an excellent job with this aria. The whole entire role however is something different entirely.

[@WelshHomo87]

Meade couldn't handle the entire role, it would be vocal suicide for her. She's already on that path so you know

[@MrStpendouslvforjo]

It's hard not to miss the perfection of Joan Sutherland....but I admire this lady nonetheless.....the trolls and roulades up to C sharp were very good

[@MrStpendouslvforjo]

Trills not "trolls" lol

[@Feisenbach]

Not hard at all. I don't miss Sutherland for one second.

[@machovoce6826]

@@Feisenbach That's because you're a dilettante.

[@fabriziogarzi9892]

@@machovoce6826 , molto dilettante e sopratutto non ha mai ascoltato dal vivo la Sutherland.

[@Eiswirth1]

@@Feisenbach She has about 1/10 of Sutherland's abilities, but that's still a lot to offer.

[@Rodrigo-rx3nf]

una verissima diva. perfetta. this is such a difficult aria, that demands a voice really equilibrated. Here Meade gave us everything we could ask for. Bravissima.

[@ulrikewermann1268]

Her vibrato on the high notes is a fifth! Wow!

[@Kurtperry41]

😒😒😒

[@ulrikewermann1268]

@@Kurtperry41 🤷‍♀ it was the nicest I could say...

[@orion8835]

I think Meade did a really, really strong job in this. And it worked well with her fast vibrati, high bright tone and top voice and middle. The mezzo did well . Bravi.

[@WelshHomo87]

She did awfully

[@jjmboston5832]

The MET hasn't done this opera since Joan Sutherland, in the borrowed Lotfi Mansouri, production from San Francisco in the late 1970s. May be time to revive it.

[@machovoce6826]

No with this cow.

[@Porn05Mouth]

With who, though??

[@WelshHomo87]

It would be vocal suicide for Meade to attempt this. She doesn't have the extreme agility had or the razor sharp coloratura Sutherland had. Dominique Gless did a great job but had a weak voice

[@dougbarker3019]

Well, there's a reason the Met haven't done it since the 1970s - no-one to equal Joan!

[@michaelfrohlichstein6290]

Let's not forget that Sutherland, in two spots, didn't sing the written high Gs.

[@KBGWorld29]

The staccato at the beginning was a struggle. 😅

[@johig4378]

What a gorgeous voice. I can't get enough.

[@machovoce6826]

LMAO

[@johig4378]

@@machovoce6826 If you have nothing constructive to say, keep taking your medication.

[@alexanderzaphir721]

A.Meade has a lot of capacities. Many persons like to accuse her because she's a big girl.But she has a big& long voice ,& she provoke's a lot of envy of course .Belcanto was written for heavy voices,not for mosquitos.And she s very good in belcanto for a singer of our era!!!If she was thinner ,dressed by mme.Bicchi ,had an etolle of chinchilla ,or Walter Legge as husband ,she could please more perhaps??? for god's sake forget the looks & hear the voice!!!.Justice is certenly not of this world ,but ignorance is.In a century ,only Ritter-Ciappi ,Sutherland &Mazzolla dared to sing Esclarmonde! I think that here ,she did a good job!

[@reidcondit1099]

Is this Angela Meade what Deborah Voigt would have looked like as Ariadne in a black cocktail dress had Convent Garden not fired her for obesity? Angela would be even better if slimmer imo.

[@alexanderzaphir721]

Reid Condit Mmmmm!!!! Italians use to say......l occhio vuole la sua parte...I thing that something like that happened to A.Mark also !!!i saw Voight in Paris in l.Macbeth.Very disappointed .For Bastille the voice seemed too small.Excellent technique & singing, but not for the opulence the role demands.First of all is to be correct with singing.After if we have the chance to have persons with the looks of ,Moffo ,Della Casa ,Callas ,Schwarzkopf why not. i think theaters should better fire some directors ,because usually their work offend composers & singers.There also some singers who are complete artists from the very beginning.f.e., C.Petrella,M.Olivero,I.Borkh, V.Zeani, had everything.Voice,Tecnique, Interpretation,& good looks.

[@henri53100]

Man can't say she is thin ! Which weight ? I think 320 pounds !

[@jjh2456]

Reid Condit no she would be. Her voice is big and she has to have something to support her diaphragm as it is exerting alot of force. Callas is a famous example of what can happen if you have a large voice but you lose the weight. Callas' diaphragm collapsed at the end of her career.

[@moirbasso7051]

You either are not a singer, or you are merely passing on false vocal pedagogy- or both. Big singers are often LARGE, but that does not necessarily mean obese. Callas' actually had a sickness that destroyed her vocal cords, not the weight loss- you can look it up on the Web.

[@911yiannis]

Very impressive !!!!! Awesome performance !!! Woaw what a voice !!!!Both of you . Wonderful Orchestra )))) 👌🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Bravo !!!!

[@yfzhou8074]

One of my favorite arias. Angela Meade is quite suited to this aria. The entire role? Maybe not in the near future, but I'm still hoping. One of those times where having a slightly heavier vibrato and voice will not work against you.

[@jordipanadesribera6890]

Vocalitat i teatralitat a bon nivell.

[@marcmitchel25]

Singing aside - and that is a LOT of singing - for me the music itself takes some warming to. Sort of a French Wagner! The mind reels.

[@chatbud]

I think we have to judge the live experience and not what we see & here on youtube. The aria/duet itself is extremely difficult to sing. Angela Meade did a superb job imho. She sounds more confident toward the end - the voice is a lot more in control. Would have been quite an experience watching it live.

[@dougbarker3019]

More evidence that the golden age of bel canto singing is long past. Too much screeching, wobbling, bad pitch and tonguing these days. Still, Massenet was a genius.

[@francesco4090]

Bravissima.

[@juliaknecht5098]

Sublime !!

[@machovoce6826]

You could add 20 exclamation points to your stupid remark - it would still be stupid.

[@juliaknecht5098]

@@machovoce6826 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 20

[@vincec8218]

@@juliaknecht5098 please give soprano Kasondra Kazanjian a listen

[@MrSkylark1]

This is a Lyrico Spinto Soprano Has anyone heard of ELIZABETH RETHBERG whose voice was acclaimed by no less than TOSCANINI who said it was the "most beautiful" voice. This lady is pushing her voice beyond its capabilities which results in an eventual dreaded wobble

[@operabilia]

Yes but EliSabeth (with an "s": she was German) could not have sung the gruelling role of Esclarmonde! Perhaps you also know Elisabeth GRUMMER? Magnificent! Best regards.

[@draganvidic2039]

MrSkylark1 There is no wobble in Meade's voice

[@williammaddox3339]

Rethberg's voice was ravishing. Sorry Dragan there is a lot of wobble in Meade's voice. Operabilia while I agree the role was beyond Rethberg, it is clearly far beyond Meade as well.

[@DavidAsset78]

I totally agree with you, but today's soprano's want to sing everything too soon in their career. Anna Netrebko is actually singing Aida! I never saw Rethberg but her recordings are wonderful and singers today should study them for technique. Her legato line was beautiful and her tone was perfection. But people seem to like the sheer power in the way Meade screams her top notes off-key. To each his own.

[@fabriziogarzi9892]

@@williammaddox3339 , per l'esattezza al di la di tutte tranne che della Sutherland.

[@matthiaskoch9634]

Listening to her Foscari, which i think is stunning, Angela here pays the price for singing wrong repertoire .... the voice got a harsh and metallic Sound and, to me, lost its warmth and brilliance ...

[@WelshHomo87]

She's just not suited to Esclarmonde. Esclarmonde requires such a special kind of voice which she doesn't have

[@queenadrienne1789]

This is probably my favorite rendition of this aria, stunning!!!

[@ulrikewermann1268]

then listen to Sutherland!

[@misanthropelife]

For sure you haven’t heard sutherland yet

[@ulrikewermann1268]

@@misanthropelife haha! perhaps you should read the older comments before, sometimes this sign: 👍is enough!

[@jjh2456]

I would love to hear Angela sing the Queen of the Night. She has the perfect voice for that role as she is a true dramatic coloratura.

[@raarnoldra]

She sang it in grad school. She'll never sing it again.

[@WelshHomo87]

​@@adventuresofayoungtenor299Meade is not a true dramatic coloratura.

[@DavidAsset78]

I prefer hearing this aroa sung more lyrically. I don't like the coarseness in Meade's voice and sometimes when she uses excessive force on her high notes she goes off-pitch (1.32 for example). I like her better in the theater, as opposed to on recordings on which you can hear the pressure she puts on her voice. In the house, her voice can hit the back wall and the occasional deficiencies are not as readily apparent.

[@vincec8218]

@@darylbarclay8037 please give soprano Kasondra Kazanjian a listen

[@marr6920]

Ok, I think it is possible for her to do the full role... some day... But still she isn't perfect and there are mistakes in here.

[@ChristopherPettersen]

She is performing Carmen with Boston Lyric Opera, and has many operatic roles under her belt. She's more than ready.

[@ChristopherPettersen]

Jennifer Johnson Cano that is, If you were referring to her

[@marr6920]

+Chris Pettersen +Onigbajamo I was referring to Angela.

[@dominiquepommelet7017]

QUEEN OF BELCANTO ANGELA...❤️❤️

[@WelshHomo87]

​@@dominiquepommelet7017she'll never be a queen of belcanto. That would be Sutherland and Callas

[@ВадимМаракулин-з8с]

Это меццо-сопрано!

[@terrycloth6380]

Nope

[@jmiller05]

A disaster.

[@gregberg5559]

I beg to differ.

[@dominiquepommelet7017]

You are a disaster

[@Michele-zp1tx]

Ma stai zitto

[@WelshHomo87]

@@gregberg5559 the coloratutra is non existent and she sings sloppily. It isn't good. Esclarmonde requires a dramatic coloratutra soprano with a Wagnerian sized voice , which Meade doesn't have

[@gregberg5559]

@@WelshHomo87 I liked it more than you did. I would be the first to say that this is a bit of a stretch for Meade- there is other repertoire that suits her better. But I was impressed with how well she coped with this brutally difficult music. And although it's true that the coloratura passages are a bit sketchy, those constitute rather little of this scene, so I don't see that as a terrible deficit. But if you didn't care for it, so be it.

[@BellaFirenze]

Anche l'occhio vuole la sua parte, diccono in Italia.

[@machovoce6826]

A public steadily fed garbage will eventually deem it gourmet.

[@johig4378]

You have a strong need for attention. Why is that?

[@vincec8218]

@@johig4378 please check out soprano Kasondra Kazanjian

[@machovoce6826]

@@johig4378 Worked with you, didn't it, twat?

[@wuaaron808]

sirening ambulance